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Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
Fri May 1, 2020, 08:45 AM May 2020

What the GOP is really afraid of (re: the shutdowns)

For the first time in a long time, the United States dramatically expanded the social safety net. Workers are seeing expanded unemployment benefits, there are postponed bill payments for many creditors, rent is being reduced and postponed.The government gave people checks to help, and there's a whole host of other mechanisms in place to help the middle class. It's far from perfect and millions are still suffering, but what this is is Americans tasting the fruits of their labor for the first time in a long time. Some call it socialism, I might call it fairer capitalism.

This money, the extra $600 for UE, the $1200 stimulus, the expanded benefits, every dime of it was created by labor. It is the people's money, we created it, we created all of this wealth. We are getting a taste of the wealth that we created.

And that's where the outrage from the GOP is coming from, they can never let labor enjoy the fruits of their work. In their minds, we only work so the wealthy can get richer. Showing Americans what a more robust social safety net is cannot be allowed to continue, they fear that people might demand this going forward. Demand unemployment benefits that our labor paid for to continue to be enough to live on. Demand that the lowest wages are higher than those unemployment benefits. Demand fair wages and benefits, demand our fair share in other words.

And they fear that the shutting down of the rat race will make Americans consume less. People all over the country are realizing the value in saving, the value in slowing down, and the value in not being so driven every day.

The entire house of cards is crashing down. Americans are getting to see what their country should be like, Republicans are horrified we will not want to go back to being their slaves.

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What the GOP is really afraid of (re: the shutdowns) (Original Post) Johnny2X2X May 2020 OP
Am hoping that UpInArms May 2020 #1
I'm hoping they end up working Bettie May 2020 #2
I'm hoping they end up as Soylent Green. lagomorph777 May 2020 #4
! JudyM May 2020 #30
THIS !!! I talked to a Trumper and nearly 25% of the conversation was against this because he uponit7771 May 2020 #3
75% are still working Johnny2X2X May 2020 #5
The Republicans have been using the debt doc03 May 2020 #6
Watch Tom Hartmann explanation of The Two Santa Claus Theory. Must see. This is why Republicans... usaf-vet May 2020 #19
This should be required viewing in every HS American History class. JudyM May 2020 #33
Companies ought to have to keep their pensions covered as well as escrow a year's worth of operating JudyM May 2020 #31
Well said... Alacritous Crier May 2020 #7
It's just as you say. Here's the point of view of a Georgia restaurateur Bernardo de La Paz May 2020 #8
+1000 smirkymonkey May 2020 #26
Very interesting, and I agree! C Moon May 2020 #9
Exactly. Once you're working for yourself and realize the value you produce bucolic_frolic May 2020 #10
ReTHUGs biggest fear malaise May 2020 #11
and the rebirth of Social Democracy DBoon May 2020 #23
Correct malaise May 2020 #24
Lindsay Graham said the $600 would be extended "over my dead body" mountain grammy May 2020 #12
That $600 is a huge problem for Republicans Johnny2X2X May 2020 #13
You are exactly right. mountain grammy May 2020 #18
No country in the world should have a higher median income that we do Johnny2X2X May 2020 #20
We did have a system mountain grammy May 2020 #25
Kind Of Tempting Fate To Say That During A Pandemic ProfessorGAC May 2020 #29
K&R nt PoliWrangler May 2020 #14
Darned right. PatrickforO May 2020 #15
The idea that people are getting anything free without having to work is killing them. ooky May 2020 #16
Only poor and middle class people Johnny2X2X May 2020 #21
Ah, Trumper training 101. ooky May 2020 #22
Yes, they're very class-conscious. Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #28
I hope this ends this deficit matters bullshit and people are taken care of. When Dems win we need Pepsidog May 2020 #17
Absolutely true I_UndergroundPanther May 2020 #27
If a little bit of stimulus every decade or so helps the economy, then why not give more stimulus Victor_c3 May 2020 #32

uponit7771

(90,347 posts)
3. THIS !!! I talked to a Trumper and nearly 25% of the conversation was against this because he
Fri May 1, 2020, 09:17 AM
May 2020

... thought people should go back to work.

Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
5. 75% are still working
Fri May 1, 2020, 09:25 AM
May 2020

That's pretty remarkable really. What they are upset with is that low income people got the extra $600 a week in unemployment that the Dems fought so hard for. The powers organizing this cannot handle the fact that some poor people might get ahead in this.

doc03

(35,344 posts)
6. The Republicans have been using the debt
Fri May 1, 2020, 09:29 AM
May 2020

to starve the country for decades. Now with CIVID 19
somehow the government can come up with trillions to bail out business. They have been hammering on SS about it going broke while it has a 1 1/2 trillion dollar trust fund. The PBGC has far more obligations than assets and
people with multi employer pensions are losing their pensions or they are being cut. But the government can't come up with the money they promised
when they created the program. It's the government's fault the PBGC is broke in the first place. They don't force companies to fund their pensions so eventually the PBGC has to take them over.
I have a defined benefit plan myself. The administrator of the plan sends a report every year. I have been retired for ten years and every year the percentage of obligations to assets have dropped. Once the percentage drops so far the PBGC has to take over the plan and the company will walk free and we pay the price.

usaf-vet

(6,188 posts)
19. Watch Tom Hartmann explanation of The Two Santa Claus Theory. Must see. This is why Republicans...
Fri May 1, 2020, 12:03 PM
May 2020

....spend, spend, spend when they are in power INCREASING THE NATIONAL DEBT. Then they scream, scream, scream about the DEBT when Democrats are in power.

Watch this YouTube to understand this republican long ongoing strategy.


JudyM

(29,251 posts)
31. Companies ought to have to keep their pensions covered as well as escrow a year's worth of operating
Fri May 1, 2020, 06:33 PM
May 2020

expenses before they are allowed to do any stock buybacks or anything else that empties their till.
Just as we wee folk are expected to put away several months’ earnings for a rainy day, companies who are operating in the public trust should have these social obligations.

bucolic_frolic

(43,176 posts)
10. Exactly. Once you're working for yourself and realize the value you produce
Fri May 1, 2020, 11:07 AM
May 2020

you question the value of what you produce for the company and realize you're being paid a fraction of what you're worth or they wouldn't employ you. And you have to do what they say. So you resolve, in true American fashion, to strike out on your own at the first available chance. The system has run on cheap, dumb labor who had no other choice. Now with internet, widely available information, cheap capital, one can work for oneself with a bit of ingenuity.

Though I might add, taxpayers didn't put up a dime. The Fed created the money with the click of a mouse. Money is no longer tied to anything.

Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
13. That $600 is a huge problem for Republicans
Fri May 1, 2020, 11:37 AM
May 2020

They cannot stand it that poor people are getting a reasonable amount to live on. The fact that unemployment right now for millions pays more than their jobs did is an absolute damning indictment of how much of a low wage economy we have right now.

We have the richest country in human history and millions of workers can't even have a modicum of security in their lives because the rich have taken it all.

$15 minimum wage is a start, but it absolutely should be $20 right now or more and should be pegged to CPI. This country can more than afford that if people are allowed to share in the wealth their labor created.

mountain grammy

(26,623 posts)
18. You are exactly right.
Fri May 1, 2020, 11:58 AM
May 2020

It's unbelievable that the cutoff for a stimulus is $75,000 and 80% of Americans qualify. It's all at the top.

Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
20. No country in the world should have a higher median income that we do
Fri May 1, 2020, 12:22 PM
May 2020

It should be close, the wealth in this country is unrivaled. If we simply had a system that allowed people to keep most of the wealth that their labor created, the American dream would be alive and well for everyone.

mountain grammy

(26,623 posts)
25. We did have a system
Fri May 1, 2020, 05:33 PM
May 2020

it was called UNIONS! But people can be suckered and manipulated. Both my sons work in union shops and half the men they work with went for Trump. Go figure..

Very few in the American working class gets anything without fighting for it..

ProfessorGAC

(65,061 posts)
29. Kind Of Tempting Fate To Say That During A Pandemic
Fri May 1, 2020, 06:15 PM
May 2020

Unsurprisingly, li'l Linz didn't think this through.
You dummy, Graham. CV just could make it over your dead body!

ooky

(8,924 posts)
16. The idea that people are getting anything free without having to work is killing them.
Fri May 1, 2020, 11:47 AM
May 2020

Trumpers think even Mnuchin's $120 per week "subsistence" is an outrage.

This is how they have been programmed.

Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
21. Only poor and middle class people
Fri May 1, 2020, 12:24 PM
May 2020

They love it when the rich or big business get millions for free. It's only regular people they think should have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

ooky

(8,924 posts)
22. Ah, Trumper training 101.
Fri May 1, 2020, 12:43 PM
May 2020

Worship the rich as the giving tree for the rest of the herd, in keeping with the trickle down LIE. And believe that you too got a tax break along with the rich guys, even though you still don't actually have any more disposable income than you did before. (I have yet to meet a Trumper who will admit he didn't get anything from the tax scam. They either "think" or "feel" that they are "better off".)

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,855 posts)
28. Yes, they're very class-conscious.
Fri May 1, 2020, 06:13 PM
May 2020

And they love to stir up trouble among the “lower class”, getting them to fight among themselves.

Pepsidog

(6,254 posts)
17. I hope this ends this deficit matters bullshit and people are taken care of. When Dems win we need
Fri May 1, 2020, 11:47 AM
May 2020

to expand the social safety net and reform the tax code. Transformational change is coming if we have the courage to see it through.

I_UndergroundPanther

(12,480 posts)
27. Absolutely true
Fri May 1, 2020, 06:09 PM
May 2020

And I hope nothing goes back to business as it was. I hope the 1% and the republicans are seen as the pig parasites they are and the people decide they are worth more and they embrace dignity and would not tolerate working with no fruits of thier labor. The man on the box needs to be thrown away
(Derrick Jensen's Parable of the Box Google it)

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
32. If a little bit of stimulus every decade or so helps the economy, then why not give more stimulus
Fri May 1, 2020, 06:37 PM
May 2020

Tax the wealthy and the corporations to pay for it and give everyone a universal basic income.

People at the bottom will have more money to spend and wealth will trickle up to the top, like it should.

The best thing we can do for business and our economy is to make sure we’re all able to purchase the very goods we produce.

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